Hi! My name is Aparna and I'm a website User Interface Designer/Information
Architect in Mumbai, India. I am currently in the US on project work. I have over 12+ years of experience enhancing
the user experience for major high traffic, e-commerce and International
websites. My formal education is in Commerce and I have experience
in the area of structuring design for the digital workspace.

I am fascinated with Human Factors, or the study
of how humans behave physically and psychologically in relation
to particular environments, products, or services. Understanding
Human Factors allows for the creation of user-centric designs or
designs that take into consideration the user. When an environment,
product, or service has a user-centric design; this generally goes
un-noticed. However, when you experience a bad design, it generally
causes confusion, frustration or even anger.

The study of Human Factors in association with computers is called:
Human-Computer Interaction. As with Human Factors, Understanding Human-Computer
Interaction allows for the creation of user-centric designs by a User
Interface Designer. This is done by the process of Information Architecture.
A good user-centric design is generally phrased as "user friendly"
which has spawned a new term in the corporate world known as "user
Experience." All of this equates to designing websites that are
fast, easy to use and understand which ultimately allows the users
to achieve their goal.

Benefits of user-centric
Designs

There are many benefits
to a good user-centric design, but from a cost perspective,
these are some of the most important.

Decrease in technical and customer support

Increase in sales

Easier to maintain

Increase Customer Stickiness - Users will stay
on the site longer if it is "user friendly."